There’s a theoretical concern that Hany Abu-Assad’s Paradise Now, the undoubtably excellent Palestinian submission for Best Foreign-Language Film, isn’t going to make it because Academy members with a special loyalty to Israel are less than supportive because the film is a thoughtful, fair-minded look at a couple of would-be Palestinian suicide bombers. I called some people about this and there wasn’t much of a response so maybe it’s hooey. A distribution exec theorized that there might have been an anti-Paradise Now attitude out there last fall, but most of the ardent Hebrews have since shifted their animus toward Munich. If so, I guess Hany Abu-Assad owes Steven Spielberg a word of gratitude.
